I Guess I'm a Dragon Now (Part 1)

Orcs

Apparently, dragons emitted some type of gurgling sound when they were happy, as it was what Ergen was doing as he walked in this new land's snow-filled forest. So far, there hadn't even been any signs of anything big enough that would pose a threat to him. There were a few bears, however they were a prime target for meals, and Ergen had to refrain from eating to many of them as he thought that he could possibly ruin the ecosystem otherwise. Thankfully, other than bears, there were also many elk and moose that also inhabited the forest. And he found that he enjoyed their meat more than any of the predators that he'd eaten thus far.

As Ergen traveled more and more inland, he couldn't be happier with his choice of leaving his mother's den. Save for the humans, there didn't seem to be any threats here at all. Though, that would change if he ever found a good den and they gathered to defeat him... Did he even need a den? They couldn't gather to fight him if he was constantly moving, right?

At that thought, Ergen immediately decided to become a nomad dragon as it seemed to bring his highest chances of staying alive. And, hopefully, as long as he stayed away from any castles or large settlements, the humans wouldn't even try to bother him. He didn't know where his mother had gotten her treasure, but by now, he was sure that she'd made somebody angry somewhere. And he wasn't planning on following the same path.

Despite being another land, the trees at least felt similar, even though they were only smaller versions of the gargantuan pine trees that he'd seen before. Though, as he was walking along them, he discovered that he had possibly been wrong about there not being any threats before. As when Ergen walked into what he'd at first thought was nothing but a small clearing, he accidentally stepped on what he only now realized was a crude tent constructed of both sticks and some type of vines.

"Gro' takaaa!" A pained voice yelled from underneath Ergen's food, and he quickly stepped back before several figures scrambled out of their destroyed shelter with one of them holding their arm as if in pain.

"R- R- Rogaaash!" One of them turned around and yelled in fear when he spotted Ergen, and now that he was able to see under the creature's heavy black cowl, Ergen thought that he was seeing an orc for the first time. However, in not knowing if the orcs were somehow allied to the other races, Ergen quickly turned and fled. While he had been somewhat lonely in his journey up until now, with only Echo to speak to on rare occasions, he had no intention of interacting with the local population as his experience with his mother was still fresh in his mind. He knew that these small beings could be dangerous when grouped together. Not to mention that they could have magic and he didn't, not accounting for his ice breath that he assumed was natural to water dragons.

While he was running away, Ergen slowed as it sounded as if the orcs had other plans as the sound of a group of hounds started barking in the distance. He was already far ahead of them, but if they were tracking him... If they were tracking him, then they could potentially ambush Ergen as he was either eating or sleeping, and he wasn't willing to be at that much of a disadvantage. If they killed him, then they'd most likely mount his head above some fireplace somewhere, wouldn't they? No, Ergen was determined to avoid that fate. Though since they could track him and he couldn't fly yet, he started thinking that it was perhaps time to use some of his human knowledge to his advantage.

Continuing in the direction he'd been running through the forest, Ergen just hoped that he was faster than any pursuers that were following him before he suddenly found what he was looking for. In front of him, a large group of trees grew closer together than in other parts of the forest, and Ergen ran in between them now before slowing his pace. Once completely stopped, he turned his head and started retracing his footsteps exactly before angling his claws sideways and started climbing the trees.

Seeing as the sounds of the dogs were getting closer, Ergen closed his eyes briefly as he now knew that he was being followed. Though, he only hoped that none of them were going to bother to look upwards and he continued to climb into the thick canopies of the trees, being careful not to hit the branches so that the snow would fall off of them and make his trap obvious. And now he waited, all the while hoping that they would give up their chase. However, that didn't seem like it would happen as Ergen looked down and he sighed inwardly as at least twenty orcs came into sight.

As they neared, the large hounds that the orcs appeared to be using as mounts suddenly stopped barking and started sniffing Ergen's tracks. Their riders all tensed, and Ergen guessed that the dogs going quiet ment that they knew that they were close to their target. However, Ergen's maneuver thankfully appeared to work as the orcs and their mounts passed right underneath him. And this, Ergen decided, would be his best opportunity.

Releasing his grip of the trees, the orcs never knew what hit them as Ergen landed in the center of them while crushing several of them in the process. They all let out startled shouts while their hounds whimpered, but Ergen didn't slow down his assault as he clawed another two mounted riders in front of him with his tail whipping through the air behind him and catching another five. And after his initial assault, Ergen dashed forward, not wanting to stay surrounded for long as he trampled over another two orc riders before he grew some distance from the group.

Knowing that if he'd have stayed there, he would have most likely been attacked by their swords, spears and axes, Ergen distanced himself from his pursuers before breathing deeply and letting out a stream of frost breath. And to his surprise, it seemed that his body hadn't been the only thing that had grown. Compared to now, his first few uses of his frost breath was like comparing a squirt gun to a water hose, and his breath now covered a wide area wherever he aimed it at. Unfortunately, it seemed as if the orcs did have some magic users with them that were able to shield their fellows. However, several of the trees behind them weren't so lucky and froze so quickly that the trunks detonated in showers of frozen splinters.

Still remembering that his mother had stayed back and continued to attempt to break through the mage's barrier with her fire breath to no effect, Ergen chose a different route and charged the orcs before their warriors got into position. And in an instant, Ergen's shoulder slammed into the magic barrier with the full weight of both his body and momentum behind it, causing the magic to shatter instantly before Ergen continued through it, rolling in the snow and crushing another pair of orcs underneath his weight in the process.

Looking back up quickly, Ergen released another stream of frost breath while the orc mages were still recovering from their barrier being broken, managing to freeze over half of the remaining orc forces before the rest were able to create more barriers. And surprisingly, only seven orcs seemed to be left now as they frantically dived for cover behind their barriers. Ergen had wiped out their nearly their entire group in only a few moments, and now he growled deeply as he slowly approached the remaining survivors. Even if they were allied to the humans, they had attempted to hunt him, and he couldn't allow any to escape now else they would surely just to back and gather reinforcements.

Not seeing any weapons among the orcs, Ergen slowly put one of his claws against the mage's barrier, digging his talons into it in order to test his new theory before the magic started cracking like glass and the whole thing suddenly vanished. In front of him, seven completely terrified orcs looked up at him while quivering before Ergen used his breath once more and finished his work. He had to do it then, because he didn't know if he would have the willpower or not to chase down orcs that were attempting to run away from him. However, he needed to kill them so that they didn't report him to anyone else. He didn't like doing this , but it was necessary, and it also aided him in the fact that they had been the ones to attack him and not the other way around. And once the barrier was down, Ergen finished the skirmish in an instant with another stream of his frost breath.

While the encounter with the orcs had been regrettable, it had also provided Ergen with some very useful knowledge. While a mage's barrier seemed to be able to repel his breath attacks, they were weak to actually physical strikes with either his claws or body in general. And with that, he felt that he was even more prepared if the humans ever attacked him again. Though he hoped that it would never come to that.